


Thicker Than Blood

by jorlau



Series: Love is... [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Adoption, Canon Queer Relationship, Children, Established Relationship, F/F, Family, Gen, Satobot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:18:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/jorlau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Satoru Sato, son of Korra, is flying across the Earth Republic with his mother, Asami, for a short family vacation when they are pulled down into a spirit wild by some rogue spirit vines. Now Satoru has to figure out how to get word to Korra, fight off giant monsters, and find out why the vines wanted them there in the first place. It's a tall order for a five-year-old kid, but with Asami to guide him, Satoru isn't afraid to try.</p><p>(Part of the Glorious Satobot Revolution, which was started by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/wegglebots">wegglebots</a>.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Asami and Satoru are Unexpectedly Delayed

**Author's Note:**

> I just sat down to write a bit of follow-up about Satoru, since I liked him so much when I wrote him as a toddler, and this came out. It's not particularly cheerful, I'm afraid.

“Are we there yet?” Satoru said, kicking his feet restlessly.

“We'll be there in just a little while,” Asami answered, not looking up from the controls of the small plane in which they were flying across the Earth Republic. “Sorry. Would you like me to tell you a story to pass the time?”

“Okay,” said Satoru, though what he really wanted was to walk around. He liked airplanes, but they had been flying for far too long, and his legs ached from lack of use. “Tell the one about the dance contest with the giant mushroom spirit.”

“That one again?” He could hear the smile in his mother's voice. “All right. It was my first time in the spirit world, you know. Your mom was showing me all the important places she knew about and–“

She broke off abruptly as a huge vine shot upwards from the distant ground, reaching for the plane. Satoru yelped in surprise. Instinctively, Asami dodged. More vines were whizzing towards them; the patch of spirit wild they had been peacefully flying over moments before seemed to have suddenly decided that it wanted to grab them.

“Hang on!” Asami yelled, guiding the plane through a series of tight, weaving loops, spinning wildly as she tried to dodge the flurry of spirit appendages. Satoru whimpered and clutched his seat's armrests. Abruptly, the plane jerked as a fast-moving vine caught its tail. Asami wrestled with the controls, trying to shake it off again, but the moment's distraction allowed another vine to grip the left wing. In another instant, the entire plane was covered in vines and being dragged inexorably downwards.

The plane landed with a mighty splash in a muddy pond. Satoru realized he'd been screaming only when the force of the impact knocked the breath from his lungs and silenced him. He sat up dizzily, fighting for air. Asami was beside him in a moment, unfastening his seatbelt.

“Are you okay?” she asked, inspecting him quickly as she spoke.

“Yeah,” he gasped. “What happened?”

“Apparently some spirits wanted us to land here,” Asami's voice, now that she was satisfied that he was all right, was calm. “Come on, we'd better get out of here.” She popped the emergency hatch on top of the plane and boosted him out of it. “Here, take this–“ handing him her purse, which was almost too heavy for him to carry “–and get to shore. I'm going to get the emergency supplies out.”

Clutching the purse, the little boy looked around him. From inside the plane, it had been hard to see where they had landed, but from outside, the fix they were in was clear. The plane's nose was fully submerged in murky water, and its wings were only partially visible. Satoru saw he would have to get down onto one if he wanted to get to shore; he had climbed around on planes many times before, but now the slide from the roof to the wing seemed suddenly a perilous one. He balked altogether at the prospect of trying to swim in the filthy water that surrounded the plane.

The plane lurched, almost knocking him over. A large ripple suggested that something far larger than the pond's size would suggest was possible moved below. Satoru slid downwards to the nearest wing and hurried towards the end. There was a log sticking out of the muck nearby. He felt sure he could not leap the gap, not carrying the heavy purse, but spurred by panic, he felt he had to try. He pulled the purse's strap hastily over his head, slinging it awkwardly across his back, where it bumped against his legs. Then he leaped.

He didn't miss by much, but it was enough. The edge of the log collided painfully with his chest, scraping him as he plunged downwards into the water. He grabbed desperately for the top of the log, fingers scrabbling against the half-rotten wood, and managed to get a grip somehow. Something brushed his leg under the water. He surged frantically upwards, dragging his now-filthy body onto the log. He crouched there for a moment, trembling, and then pulled himself upright and raced the length of the log. He could see a few rocks sticking out of the water, and he leaped for the nearest, landing unsteadily but successfully. The next rock was too slippery, and he fell heavily into the water again.

This wasn't working. He drew a deep breath and pushed off the rock, swimming for the shore as fast as he could. Behind him, there was a loud splash, and he felt the purse catch on something. He spun and saw a spiny, snakelike face looming over him. Instinctively, he hurled a blast of fire at the thing. It fell backwards, shrieking, and he felt the purse come free. He kicked out desperately for the shore and pulled himself, gasping and shaking, onto dry land.

Asami clambered onto the top of the plane, fear in her face. Evidently she had heard the noise. He waved. “Over here, Satobot!” he called, trying to sound as though he hadn't been frightened out of his wits.

(Satoru called Asami Satobot more often than he called her anything else. He'd picked it up from his other mother, Korra, within a month of his legal adoption, and Asami still liked to tell the story of the first time she'd gotten home from work and he'd toddled up to her with a happy cry of “Sa-ba!” and Korra, when she'd finally stopped laughing, had raved about how clever he was for hours.)

“What happened?” Asami demanded anxiously. “I heard something....”

“It was a big fish, but I scared it away,” Satoru said. “Are you done finding the emergency supplies?” There were a couple of small bags and a large box sitting on top of the plane by now.

“I just need to get one more thing,” Asami told him. “Just sit tight and be careful, okay? I'll be with you in a minute.”

Satoru nodded, but he remained close to the shore, watching anxiously while his mother, after retreating into the plane's interior and emerging with yet another bag, expertly gathered the supplies she had collected and, carrying them as though they weighed nothing, bounded gracefully from rock to rock until she finally landed beside him.

“You're going to need a bath later, I can see,” she remarked, smiling. “Come on, let's go find a place to sit down and plan what we're going to do next.”

She walked purposefully into the surrounding trees. Hefting the purse, Satoru followed her.

 


	2. In Which Satoru Finds Someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satoru tries to get in touch with Korra, but something or someone is in the way....

Half an hour later, they were seated in a comfortable clearing, eating nuts and dried fruit as Asami studied a map thoughtfully. Eventually, she folded the map and looked up at her son.

“Satoru,” she said. “Do you think you could contact your mom if you meditated?”

Korra had first taken Satoru to Jinora to learn proper meditation technique when he was only two years old, hoping the mental discipline would help him learn how to not set things on fire accidentally. In the three and a half years since, he had become very good at calming his mind and focusing his energy. Still, he had never attempted astral projection. He frowned, thinking carefully.

“I don't know,” he said honestly. “I haven't done anything like that, but Jinora told me how she sends herself to people she knows. I can try to do that.”

“That's fine,” Asami said. “See if you can let her know where we are and that we're all right. If she can find us, it'll be a lot easier to get out of here, and we can probably even save the plane. Otherwise, well, we'll just have to walk to the nearest town.”

Satoru nodded and moved to sit against the trunk of a large tree, taking the lotus position and closing his eyes. He breathed slowly, clearing his mind of the remnants of the terror he had felt earlier, concentrating on becoming calm. Then he looked for his connection to Korra. There it was: the lullabies she sang him when he couldn't sleep at night; the feel of her strong hands lifting him high into the air so she could hug him after a long day apart; the warmth of her arms around him when she took him for a ride on Naga, or walked him through a new bending stance for the first time; the mischievous grin she wore when she used airbending to cheat in a game of tag, or waterbending to soak him in a water fight; the admiration in her eyes when he showed her how he'd modified his favorite toy car to go longer before recharging. He concentrated on the feeling underlying all of these interactions that was his personal connection to Korra's spirit. The feeling pulled him into the air, away from his body and through the spirit wilds, fast enough that he felt as though he ought to be breathless even though he knew that spirits didn't actually breathe. He felt a burst of excitement and pride – he was doing it! – and then, without warning, he slammed into something that felt like a wall of ice.

_Terror. Grief. Helplessness. Confusion._ A burst of flames shot from Satoru's mouth as he screamed, and then he was back in his body, sweating and disoriented. Asami was at his side in an instant, her face full of gentle concern.

“Satoru, what happened?” she asked, pulling him into her lap and stroking his hair gently. He pressed against her, shaking.

“I know why the spirits wanted us to land here,” he managed. “Someone here needs help.”

“What sort of someone?” Asami said. “You mean a spirit?”

Satoru shook his head, trying to sort through the rush of emotions he'd felt. “A human. It felt kind of like how I used to feel when I had a firebending accident, but more. Like something really scary happened. I was trying to get to Mom, but this person's energy stopped me somehow.”

Asami, who despite her interest in and long relationships with spirits had very little spiritual ability, frowned in puzzlement. “How could they do that?”

“I don't know,” Satoru shuddered. “I don't think it was on purpose.”

“Do you think we should try to find this person and help them?” Asami asked, looking searchingly into his eyes as though trying to absorb a better understanding of what he had found.

“I think so,” Satoru said, though he felt very reluctant to go near the source of the fear. He felt that finding the frightened person, like crossing the muddy water, was somehow completely necessary.

“Can you show me where they are?” she asked next.

Satoru nodded. “I know exactly where to go.”

“All right, then,” Asami set him gently down and stood, gathering up their supplies again. “Let's pack up and get moving. The sooner we find out what we're supposed to be doing here, the better.”

Satoru could tell that Asami's seeming calmness and confidence was put on for his benefit, which was almost more alarming than it would have been if she had been openly worried; he resolved to pretend to be reassured, so as not to worry her further. He picked up two of the bags and, after a brief struggle, managed to drape them so that they did not impede his movement too badly. By the time he'd gotten the bags under control, Asami had already gathered the rest of their equipment and was watching him with some amusement. He thought he would have to design a better kind of adjustable strap, to make it easier for five-year-olds to carry things meant to fit grown-ups.

“You okay there?” Asami asked.

“Yeah,” Satoru tugged at the straps once more. “Let's go. It's this way.” He wished she had a free hand he could hold, but that was clearly impossible. He took a deep, steadying breath and headed into the woods.


	3. In Which They Meet a Waterbender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satoru and Asami walk for a long time and discover the source of the spiritual barrier.

“Are we there yet?” Asami said after they had been walking for nearly an hour. 

“Nearly, I think,” Satoru responded. He was getting tired and feeling discouraged; their destination had seemed a lot closer without a body, and he hadn't realized how long it would take to walk. “It should be just over that hill there.” 

“Why don't we leave some of our supplies here and come back for them later, then?” Asami suggested. “This looks like a good place, and I don't think any spirits will be interested in most of these things. You look like you could stand to put down those bags for a while.” 

This sounded like a good idea to Satoru, so he set down his burdens and watched while his mother quickly reorganized their equipment, putting what she deemed the most important objects into her purse and one other bag, handing him a small container filled with snacks, and carefully stowing the rest of their supplies under a bush. When she had finished, Satoru took her hand and they set out again. 

It was easier to feel brave now. Satoru was rarely really scared – it's hard to be frightened of most things when you know that one of your parents is an amazingly skilled fighter and strategist and the other one is the Avatar – but after all he was only five years old, and the world had a lot of things he didn't know about in it. Like the spirits in this spirit wild, or rather the spirits that ought to be living in this spirit wild; he caught glimpses them occasionally, but they seemed to be hiding, and that felt wrong to Satoru. It was unnerving. The warmth of his mother's hand around his was very comforting. 

After another fifteen minutes or so they crested the hill and came in sight of the source of the spiritual anomaly. They both stopped short, staring. “Wow,” Satoru breathed. 

Before them was another pond, nearly a lake really. This one was not muddy; on the contrary, it was so clear that even from a distance Satoru could see fish swimming aimlessly in the shallows. In the center of the pond was a small island, and on that island stood a small clay hut which would have been completely unremarkable except that, in defiance of the climate, it was encased entirely in ice. 

“I'm guessing a waterbender did that,” Asami commented. 

“Yeah,” Satoru agreed, clutching her hand nervously. 

“Listen, Satoru,” Asami turned and knelt so her face was level with his. “We're going to go down there and see who it is and what they want, but first I want you to promise me that if it turns out to be dangerous, if I tell you to, you'll run away and find your mom. Don't argue, or hesitate, or try to wait for me to catch up. Okay?” 

“Okay,” squeaked Satoru, though he really didn't think it was. 

“That's my boy.” Asami stood. “Let's go.” She walked purposefully towards the pond. 

On the shore, they stopped again. “We could swim this,” Asami said, thoughtfully, “but if that waterbender isn't friendly, we probably don't want to be in the water when we meet them. Hmm.” She gazed speculatively at the hut for a moment, then sighed. “All right, let's just do this the Korra way.” She released Satoru's hand to cup both of her hands around her mouth and called loudly, “hello in there!” 

There was no response at first. Then the ice blocking the doorway melted, flowed back through the door, and returned a moment later as a whirling pillar of water, carrying a waterbender with it. Satoru gawked. The new arrival was a child not much older than he was, with long tangled hair and ragged clothing. 

“Who are you?” The waterbender demanded, glaring at them with suspicion and fear. 

“Hi there,” Asami smiled brightly. “My name's Asami, and this is my son Satoru. We were just passing through and the spirit vines seemed to want us to stop here.” 

“They brought you?” The child's voice was tinged with a wary hope. 

“They did,” Asami confirmed. 

“Did you tell them to?” Satoru burst out. He felt sure that the stranger was the same person he had sensed, and his fear was rapidly vanishing. 

“I wanted them to find someone to help.” The waterbender's lip trembled. “I don't know what to do.” 

“What's the matter?” Asami looked as though she would have liked to hug the child, but the intervening water prevented her. 

The waterspout collapsed as the young waterbender lost control of it and collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Asami stared for an instant, then lifted Satoru onto her back and waded determinedly into the water. Soon, she was kneeling beside the weeping child, speaking soothingly and stroking the small, shaking back as tenderly as she would have Satoru's. He watched, trying not to be overwhelmed by the other child's projected emotions. Waterbending aside, this was evidently someone with very strong spiritual powers. 

Gradually, Asami managed to coax some information out of the child. Her name, it emerged, was Kesuk; she had lived in the spirit wild with her father and her older sister Nunataq for as long as she could remember; her mother had died when she was a baby. Not long ago, the whole family had gotten sick. Kesuk had gotten over it quickly. The others – here the child became incoherent. 

“Can I go inside and see them?” Asami asked gently. Kesuk gulped and nodded. Asami extracted the first-aid kit – mostly burn remedies – that she always carried in her purse, set down everything else she was carrying, and entered the hut. A minute later she returned carrying a large pot, which she filled from the pond. She knelt by her bag and extracted a small foil package. 

“I'm going to make us some soup,” she said. “Satoru, will you try to reach Korra again, please?” 

Satoru looked at Kesuk's tear-stained face and nodded silently. 


	4. In Which Satoru Makes a Breakthrough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kesuk opens up, and Satoru manages to make contact with Korra.

After Asami had reassured Kesuk that she would take the best care possible of Nunataq and gone back into the hut, Satoru settled down to try to contact Korra again.  Meditating with Kesuk there wasn't easy. She fidgeted, staring at the hut's door anxiously; now and then she would sob. Her emotions hung over the little island like a thundercloud of negativity. Just when Satoru thought he was finally getting somewhere, she spoke.

“What are you doing?”

“I'm trying to talk to my mom,” he said shortly, keeping his eyes closed.

“I thought that was your mom,” the girl persisted. “If you want to talk to her, why don't you just go do it?”

“My other mom,” Satoru said, opening one eye to gauge her reaction. When she looked blank, he sighed. “I had a mom and a dad when I was born, but they died. The Satobot – Mother, I mostly call her Satobot – found me, and then she and Mom adopted me, so now they're my moms.”

“Oh,” Kesuk considered this. “But how can you talk to your mom like that?”

“I'm trying to send my spirit to where she is,” Satoru explained.

“You can do that?” Kesuk's eyes widened.

“Probably,” Satoru said. “We're connected, and I know what her spirit feels like, so I should be able to find her unless I hit something that blocks me. That's how I found you, earlier. Your spiritual energy kind of stopped me.”

“My spiritual energy,” Kesuk repeated.

“Your feelings,” Satoru said earnestly.

“Oh,” Kesuk looked defensive suddenly. “You can tell what I'm feeling?”

“Just the big feelings,” Satoru reassured her. “I know you're scared, and sad, and you were feeling like you should be able to do something but you couldn't. I don't know more than that.”

Kesuk's face crumpled. “My daddy's dead,” she wept. “He was trying to tell me how to help him but I couldn't  _do_ it, I didn't understand, and – and he's dead and it's my fault and if my sister dies....”

“She won't,” Satoru impulsively hugged Kesuk, who stiffened briefly and then buried her face in his shoulder. “If the Satobot can't help him, Mom will be able to. She knows all about healing.”

“But if you can't talk to her....”

“If you help me, I'll bet I can,” Satoru said. “I think you have a lot of spiritual power. If we work together, your power and my connection to her should make it easy to let her know where we are.”

Kesuk straightened abruptly, looking at him hard. “You really think so?”

“I do,” Satoru said with more confidence than he felt.

“Okay,” Kesuk shook herself. “What do I have to do?”

“Sit like I am, facing me,” Satoru told her. He tried to remember how Jinora led group meditation sessions. “Close your eyes....”

When Asami emerged from the hut  with soup for them, she found Satoru carefully guiding Kesuk through a breathing exercise. The woman raised her eyebrows, smiled, quietly placed the steaming bowls on the ground, and returned to the hut to feed Nunataq. Satoru, it seemed, had the younger sister well in hand.

When the tension radiating from Kesuk had subsided, Satoru told her to breathe and focus on his energy. He wasn't sure how she could actually lend him power, or even if it were possible, but it couldn't hurt to try. He turned his own focus to Korra again. Finding the connection was even easier now that he had done it once before. He breathed deeply, delving into his memories, and realized with surprise that he could feel Kesuk's mind reaching for his, her thoughts a clumsy mass of hope and concern but no longer an obstacle. She knew, probably through pure instinct, how to interact on a spiritual level, and now that she was consciously guiding it, she seemed to know what to do. He felt her essence buoying him upwards, out of his body and towards his goal. Then they were racing through the air side by side, following the invisible thread that tied him to Korra.

There she was, riding furiously on Naga, heading towards him physically even as he traveled towards her in spirit. She pulled up short when she saw the children approaching, and her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Junior?”

“Mom!” Satoru alighted in front of her.

“Where are you? Where's Asami? What happened?” Korra's eyes took in his companion. “Who's your friend?”

“We got pulled down into a spirit wild by some vines,” Satoru explained. “This is Kesuk. She's a waterbender. The vines were trying to get someone to help her, because her sister is really sick. She was kind of blocking me from getting in touch with you before, but it was an accident....”

“So that's why I couldn't find exactly where you were,” Korra said. She looked sympathetically at Kesuk. “I'm sorry about your sister. When I get there, I'll see what I can do to help. Is the spirit barrier gone now?”

“Sure,” Satoru said brightly. “You shouldn't have any trouble getting through now.”

“Great,” Korra dismounted and placed her hand on the ground. Her eyes flared briefly, and then she nodded and climbed back on Naga. “All right. I should be able to get there before sundown. Tell Asami, okay?”

“Okay,” Satoru said. He turned to Kesuk. “Let's go.”

The waterbender's spirit  nodded,  looking at Korra in a daze. The  children tore off through the sky, back to their bodies.

It was not until  they had begun to eat the  remarkably delicious soup that Asami had left for them that Kesuk spoke.

“What's your name, again?”

“Satoru. Satoru Sato, son of Korra.”

“And your mom – she's–“

“She's the Avatar.”

“I thought so,” Kesuk went back to slurping her soup, looking thoughtful.

“She's going to heal Nunataq,” Satoru reassured her. “And I'll bet you can both come live with us if you want to. You don't have to worry now.”

Kesuk smiled at him for the first time. “I know.”


	5. In Which Fireproofing is Discussed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satoru and Asami attempt to comfort Kesuk about her inability to heal people. Then Korra one-ups them. Avatars, eh?

The hours of waiting for Korra felt like forever. Satoru tried to cheer Kesuk up, with mixed results – after the third time Asami had to break up a bending battle brought on by a disagreement about a game's rules, she carried Nunataq out of the hut so she could keep an eye on the healthy children's play, whereupon Kesuk lost all interest in games in favor of watching Asami's every interaction with Nunataq like a hawk. Satoru, after trying to engage her a few times and being rudely rebuffed, sat down near his mother and watched as well.

“She's been like that for days,” Kesuk said abruptly, as Nunataq muttered something unintelligible and flailed against the blankets that wrapped her. “She didn't even recognize me this morning.”

“That must be really hard for you,” Asami offered.

“I should know how to heal,” Kesuk muttered. “Dad tried to tell me....”

“Couldn't he have healed himself, if he knew how?” Satoru asked.

“He...” Kesuk looked miserable. “He wasn't a strong bender. He couldn't do much.”

“What about your mom?” Asami said. “Was she a bender? You're obviously a strong one.”

“Mom was an earthbender, like Nunataq,” Kesuk said, dully. “Dad says we take after her.”

“I'll bet you do,” Asami smiled. Then she said, in a softer voice, “Kesuk, it's not your fault you can't heal people yet. All benders have to learn how to use their skills, and most people take a long time to master them.”

“Yeah,” Satoru put in. “I've been learning to control my firebending for years–“ Asami's mouth twitched, but she didn't say anything “–and I still have to sleep in special clothes, with special covers, so I don't set my bed on fire.”

“You firebend in your sleep?” Kesuk looked deeply unsettled. “Do you ever burn yourself?”

“Not very much,” Satoru said. “I burned the Satobot pretty bad once.” He bit his lip and looked down.

“He was feeling scared, so he climbed into bed with me and Korra,” Asami explained. “Had a bad dream. Korra healed me, and it was fine, but the amount of fireproofing we've had to do in our bedroom to make sure it didn't happen again was a pretty major operation.”

“I will learn control,” Satoru insisted. “Someday.”

“If I learn how to heal later, it won't help my dad,” Kesuk said, returning to her main problem.

“No, it won't,” Asami's voice was gentle. “Nobody can change the past. What we can control is the future. And in the future, you'll have the chance to help a lot of people. I know your dad would want you to do that.”

“Satobot,” Satoru said. “Kesuk and Nunataq can come live with us, can't they? Then Mom can teach her to heal people!”

“Of course they can,” Asami looked from the raving Nunataq to her sombre sister with a warm smile.

“Learn healing from the _Avatar_?” Kesuk's tone was equal parts delight and fear.

“She's a good teacher,” Satoru bragged. “She trains me in firebending pretty much every day.”

“Yeah, but she's your mom,” Kesuk protested.

“If you come live with us, you'll be part of the family too,” Asami said. “You don't have to think of us as parents unless you want to, but we will be your family.”

“I want you to be my sister, anyway,” Satoru added, slinging his arm around the young waterbender affectionately. Indeed, after their earlier spiritual journey, he felt as though they were already siblings, and this was exciting because he had always been sure that he was meant to be a brother.

Kesuk didn't say anything, but she hugged him, hard, and when he proposed another game, she agreed (though she still insisted on being the one to set the rules).

Korra finally arrived just when Asami was serving out another round of soup. The Avatar hugged her wife and son, greeted the star-struck Kesuk in so friendly a manner that the child was completely overwhelmed, and then knelt beside Nunataq, who was sleeping fitfully.

“Hm,” Korra said, after inspecting the unconscious girl briefly. “How long has she been like this?”

“She got sick five days ago, I think,” Kesuk answered, after Satoru poked her lightly.

“Were you taking care of her by yourself all that time?” Korra asked, looking around at the young waterbender with some surprise.

“She was well enough to do some things by herself the first two days,” Kesuk replied. “And Dad wasn't too sick the first day. I... tried to heal her, a couple of times, but I don't really know how....”

“That explains it,” Korra said. “You probably saved her life.”

Kesuk's mouth dropped open. “I what?”

“It wasn't enough to make her better, but it kept her alive,” Korra explained, beginning to run glowing water over the sick child's chest. “I guess she was pretty healthy before?”

“Except when she was little,” Kesuk said, still staring.

“Was that when she lost her legs?” Korra asked. (Satoru blinked and looked more carefully at the blanket-wrapped form of the young earthbender. He hadn't noticed that Nunataq didn't have any legs.)

“Yeah,” Kesuk said. “In the accident when our mom died.”

“Sounds like your sister's a natural survivor.” Korra said, turning back to Nunataq and concentrating on the water under her hands. “She's already responding to the healing, too.”

“When you've finished the session,” Asami cut in, “we need to figure out how to get us all back to Republic City. Even if my plane can be repaired, it won't fit all of us.”

“No problem. I sent a message when Satoru told me where you were,” Korra grinned smugly. “Bolin's bringing an airship to pick us up.”

“Korra,” said Asami. “Bolin knows nothing about piloting airships.”

“He assured me he could handle it,” Korra protested.

Asami covered her eyes with one hand and groaned.

“Who's Bolin?” Kesuk whispered to Satoru.

“My uncle,” Satoru said promptly. “Well, not really my uncle. You see, when Mom first moved to Republic City....”


	6. In Which We Finally Get a Domestic Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten months later, two brilliant engineers in training butt heads and there is an unexpected new arrival.

“MOTHER!” Asami looked up from her work, suppressing a sigh, as Satoru hurtled through the door of her home office. “Nunataq won't share the workbench!”

“Couldn't you go out to the workshop?” Asami asked. “There's plenty of space there.”

“There's room on the inside workbench, too, if she would let me use it,” Satoru's pout was eerily like Korra's. “I don't want to go out to the workshop, it's cold and wet and windy and I'd have to carry my project.”

Asami did sigh then, laying aside the sketch she had been working on (a device for keeping spirit vines from grabbing a vehicle). The ten months since Kesuk and Nunataq had moved to Republic City had been a rough adjustment period in some ways. Kesuk was rebellious by nature, always testing boundaries and challenging authority, but she had bonded quickly to Korra, and between that and her early affection for Satoru she had integrated into the household relatively smoothly.

Nunataq, in contrast, had been friendly and compliant but not particularly interested in connecting with anyone until Asami had shown her the first prototype for her new mechanical legs. Then it emerged that the young earthbender was fascinated, not by the prospect of walking without crutches, but by the technical problem posed by the legs' design; after wearing the fourth version of the prototype for an hour, she had quietly gone to the workbench, disassembled the prostheses, and called Asami over to get an explanation of the joints' workings, claiming that she had an idea for how to improve them. She had been tinkering almost nonstop since then, which delighted Asami but meant that Nunataq now frequently butted heads with Satoru over the use of resources.

“All right,” Asami said, getting up. “Let's go talk to Nunataq and see what we can work out.”

She found Nunataq frowning at the pieces of one of her artificial legs. “Oh, hey Satobot,” the girl said, glancing up at her.

“Hi Nunataq,” Asami responded. “Rebuilding the left one again?”

“Just trying to stop the knee from squeaking,” Nunataq said. “Hey, do you think Mom could teach me metalbending, though? I've got a few ideas for how we could improve the design if I could move parts of the leg by bending.”

(Kesuk had picked up Asami's nickname from Satoru and Korra almost immediately, and Nunataq had picked it up from Kesuk. The little waterbender, who had no memories of her mother, had been almost as quick to start calling Korra “Mom”; Nunataq had resisted following suit until Korra sat her down and explained that she was absolutely fine with being called “Korra” but would Nunataq please stop carefully saying “Avatar Korra” all the time? Nunataq had called Korra “Mom” for the first time barely five minutes after this conversation, much to the Avatar's bewilderment.)

“She might have you train with someone else, first,” Asami said. Satoru shifted restlessly beside her, trying to remind her of their errand; she put her hand soothingly on his head. “You'll have to ask her. Can we talk about the workbench? Satoru said you didn't want to share; what's your side of the story?”

“He keeps knocking into me when we do,” Nunataq said coolly. “I told him he could use it when I'd finished putting this back together. It won't take that long.”

“It's already taken a long time,” Satoru protested. “I asked you ages ago.”

“Twenty-three minutes,” Nunataq said, pointing to the wall clock. “That's counting the time you were out of the room. Honestly, can't you be a little patient?”

“I'm patient all the time,” Satoru insisted. “I just really need to finish my project before Mom gets home. It's supposed to be for her birthday.”

“Her birthday's tomorrow,” Asami pointed out.

“That's why I need to finish it today,” Satoru explained. “She'll _be here_ tomorrow, I can't work on it then!”

Nunataq sighed. “How about you wait until I'm done, and then I'll help you so you'll be sure to finish in time?”

“I thought you didn't want to share,” Asami said, confused.

“It won't be a problem when we're both working on the same thing,” Nunataq said, her tone indicating that this should have been obvious.

“Fair enough,” Asami said peaceably. “Does that work, Satoru?”

“I guess so,” Satoru said reluctantly. He settled down to watch Nunataq work.

In fact, Satoru's project (a lovingly-crafted but crude model of the Republic City Spirit Portal) was complete long before Korra arrived, very late and looking worried. She was carrying something in her arms.

“You guys have got to stop picking up stray kids,” Bolin complained the next day over Korra's birthday lunch. “Or else you need to pick up one more. You haven't got an airbender yet.”

“Children aren't collectibles,” Mako protested. “They don't need an airbender!”

“Hey, it's not like I planned it this way,” Korra said defensively. “I had to go to the police station to give a statement about that fight I was in, and people drop off babies at police stations sometimes....”

“You didn't have to take her home,” Mako pointed out reasonably.

“Yeah, I pretty much did. Avatar senses. I just knew she was supposed to be my kid,” Korra looked at the infant she had brought home the night before, who was currently asleep in Asami's lap.

“I'm just glad it was you that brought her in,” Asami commented, cuddling the baby. “After all, I found Satoru, and Satoru found Nunataq and Kesuk. It's about time you did your part.”

“She found the non-bender who was in a safe, easily-accessible place,” Opal said. “From what I remember of when you found Satoru, and what you've told me about your little adventure meeting the others, I'd say she's getting off lightly.”

“You could say that,” Korra smirked. “Or you could say I'm doing my Avatar duty and keeping the balance.”

“You can't just win every argument by being the Avatar,” Mako objected.

Korra grinned. “Yes I can. I'm the _Avatar_.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the domesticity! This concludes this little slice of my take on Home Life With the Satos. Thanks for reading.


End file.
